The present invention relates to a winding machine for winding a traveling web of paper.
Numerous designs of such machines are known. EP 0 496 863 B1 discloses a double support roller winding machine having the possibility of relieving the weight of the rolls of paper produced by compressed air. For this purpose, a pressure chamber is formed which is limited by the outer surface of the two support rollers that support the wound roll, by the outer surface of the resultant roll of paper, by displaceable end walls which are arranged at the respective end regions of the support rollers, as well as by a blow box which extends parallel to the support rollers and lies with greater or lesser sealing action against the outer surfaces of the support rollers. The blow box can be moved away from the support rollers in order, for instance, to remove pieces of paper after a paper jam or in order to swing a cutting knife from below into the slot between the support rollers during a change of rolls.
A machine in accordance with that reference may compensate for the weight of the paper roll or rolls themselves by the pressure in the pressure chamber. However, this has disadvantages. The blow box requires a relatively large amount of space since it generally extends to below the lowest points of the two support rollers. If the blow box is to be swung away from the two support rollers, space is also required for this. Since the blow box can, in general, be moved away only in a downward direction, and since a lift device necessary for this purpose usually acts on the bottom of the blow box, a correspondingly large amount of space must be provided below the machine. But this place frequently lacks space.